To the Editor:
The Herald’s recent article about Women’s Basketball Head Coach Sarah Behn, titled “Brown University Band will not perform at women’s basketball games in protest of Head Coach,” was quite disheartening. As someone who worked in the Athletic Department at Brown from 2015 until late 2016 as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations for Head Coach Sarah Behn, I would like to offer my own insight from my personal experiences with Coach Behn.
Because of the nature of my position, I was with Coach Behn for countless hours throughout my time at Brown and can offer a perspective that many others cannot. I attended every basketball practice and game. I attended every team meeting and event. I was in a myriad of individual meetings with coaches and players, and I was in every staff meeting with Coach Behn and her support staff. I dedicated my life to the Brown Women’s Basketball program.
Let me be clear: Never in my time with the program did I hear Coach Behn or any other member of her staff “single out” a student athlete due to “their weight” or any other “physical” or “mental” characteristic. Never in my time with the program did Coach Behn “blame a loss” on a student athlete. Never did Coach Behn “turn on her team” or degrade our team in any way — and the list goes on from there. When student athletes were “called out individually,” it was strictly for positive reasons, such as exceptional work on the court, in the classroom or in the community.
The article published by The Herald portrays an individual that is not in any way the Coach, or more importantly, the person that I know. Coach Behn has coached and positively impacted thousands of players, staff and students throughout her decades of working in basketball. To put it simply, Coach Behn loves her players, Coach Behn loves her support staff and Coach Behn loves Brown University.
Shane Lynch
Former Operations Coordinator for Brown’s Women’s Basketball Team under Head Coach Sarah Behn
